museum of appalachia

Three couples traveling together, and we all found so many items of interest. We went off in all directions, following out own individual paths and coming together at different points to remark on the wonderful finds. Seemingly put together by one man or family, this huge collection brings together log homes, implements and daily-used items of the many people and families of the immediate area. We are so lucky that this has been collected for our interest and enjoyment! Bring a picnic lunch or purchase one at the cafe on site because you can spend a whole day here looking -- and often touching -- all the wonderful things preserved here. An extensive collection of log homes, buildings, blacksmith shops, barns, etc are also available for viewing. We've been here before but always find new things to enjoy!

Visit on a nice day and plan to spend at least 4 hours to appreciate it all! This is the best collection of original pioneer buildings, stories and artifacts that I've seen! It shows how inventive and resourceful these hardy folks were. It's an excellent place for kids to learn about life in the mountains before the civil war. Be sure to plan on lunch at the restaurant for some excellent country cooking at very affordable prices! Tour the gift shop and enjoy some mountain music!

We visited during first day of Christmas in Old Appalachia it was cold and rainy so that might explain not many demonstrations, butane it will get better. You could spend days going through the cabins and museum and it was very interesting. We will return another time.

This is like no other museum I have ever been to. It is so personal. in 2 large display areas, all of the information about the displays are hand lettered. The relationships and the donors are acknowledged and are part of the history. Materials are hung on walls and you get to experience all of the creativity of those pioneers whether it be instruments or caskets. Walk slowly so you do not miss anything. The external buildings are as unique and interesting as the displays on the inside. I don't want to spoil the fun, so I will stop now. In the buildings there are stairs to the lofts for more displays but no elevators and limited wheel chair access to the elevated buildings.

We stopped here after lunch, it was on the spur of the moment after seeing the ad as we were driving on I-75.Iit was a cold day, and not many cars in the lot, so it looked like it might be a quick walk and a good way to stretch our legs.The whole walk was a mile long, but it took us 2.5 hours to see everything. There are so many different types of musical instruments in the Appalachian Hall of Fame it was hard to move on from there.Mr. Irwin wrote notes to go along with the items he collected, stories of the owner and background of the items made the items more relatable to everyone.I hope to go back again on a warmer day to see it again.

We had planned a visit to the museum having no idea that it was a homecoming festival going on that day. We understood that there was something special going on as we saw the overfilled parking lot and heard the high ticket price, but we decided to check it out. Only after talking to one of the vendors we realized what day we had visited on.The museum was great with many old buildings and artifacts, but of course the availability was somewhat limited because of the festival and bands playing (mostly Bluegrass). We had a great day there still though and coming from Norway this was our first time at an event like this.

The visit to the Museum was wonderful the exhibits are old fashioned in as much that they portray the era and the vintage of what it was like to have lived in that time frame. The small Cafe served wonderful food and the staff were excellent, pleasant and smiling nothing was too much trouble.That was until the Wedding Coordinator or Events Coordinator appeared on the scene, she pushed us around so that she could allow a small group of prospective clients into the large banquet, she was very rude and inconsiderate of our presence, this really spoiled our visit. This was done in front of a large sign that requested the use of "Please and Thank-you" it is a shame that she didn't use these words instead of bullying people around.Don't let this spoil your visit just keep away from the Events Coordinator and enjoy the food in the Cafe.

This museum is only about a 40 minute drive from our home and is indeed a treasure. As a retired school teacher, I have over the life of the museum made this trip many times in that capacity. I had not been here since my retirement, so when my husband and I saw advertising for the Days of the Pioneer Antique Show in September, we decided to take in, not only the show, but to pay a long overdue visit to the museum. The museum is mostly an outside activity set up in the manner of an old Appalachian village. The museum has beautiful grounds and one can easily spend an entire day going through the village buildings. There is a gift shop and restaurant connected with museum. On our visit, there were also food vendors associated with the antique show as well as a civil war encampment. During special events, actors portraying historical characters walk the grounds enlightening and entertaining visitors with their stories. For the past several years, the museum has been affiliated with the Smithsonian. The museum, for the most part, is level, but there is a lot to see and a lot of walking to do. I did notice at least three persons in motorized chairs with special tires.

We enjoyed our visit to this museum. It consists of over 30 buildings from the Pioneer period in this area as well as museum buildings containing various artefacts from Appelachia. These have been collected over a period of 50 years by John Rice Irwin and reassembled here. The buildings have been spread over an area of grass and up to the adjacent woodland. They are connected, basically, in a large circle with a path joining them together. They are individually numbered and a map given with a short description of each building. You can go inside most of the buildings and they are furnished appropriately. There are also buildings such as a church, saw mill, blacksmith’s shop and smoke house. There are chickens in the chicken house and a often a couple sitting outside one of the cabins singing songs of the period.There is also a fairly comprehensive gift shop and restaurant which uses food grown in the garden. We liked the fact that as well as being a great collection of buildings you were left with a sense of how these pioneers lived and worked. The website is www.museumofappalachia.org

It is been a few years since I attend the Tennessee fall homecoming. John Rice was still the active curator. The festival was many local musicians from around the area and some bluegrass. Now it seems more like a bluegrass festival then an old Timey music festival. They did'nt seem to have as many authentic vendors. I can get bluegrass music in Grand Rapids but not that charming old Timey music from the hills.

This is a great way to give depth to a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge mountains. This museum has earned an affiliation with the Smithsonian, and I think it's well deserved. There are profiles, short and long, about many of the people who settled and populated the area, as well as great physical artifacts. In addition to the expected "items of daily life" like tools and cooking implements, you can walk through entire buildings the founder of the museum acquired along with stories of their original owners. We visited it at the beginning of our trip through the region, and kept harkening back to it during our travels. At the end of our trip, we actually went back again because we wanted to spend more time with the, literally, thousands of displays.It's just about 20 miles north of Knoxville, and so worth the slight detour if you're visiting the GSMNP.

We have taken our children and grandchildren to the museum and it's always a great experience but we went to October Homecoming and for the price I've been to many better Fall Festivals for a lot less in TN. I feel really bad that the everyday hard working people that want to share there heritage but can't afford tickets to this event after paying gas, food, electric and all other rising cost of living. I think the Appalachian Festival should lower cost or unless they like it being just for upper class. I mean come on! $30 1-adult, $60. For mom and dad then $15 youth, $10 child, not counting all expenses while there. Rogersville has a great Heritage Family Festival Free! Just saying should make it more inclusive.

Great history with many out buildings original to the area. We could have spent more time reading about all the exhibits. Definately plan on spending some time to see this. It's worth the trip back in time!

Spent several hours looking through the exhibits. Lots of Americana and memorabilia. Collection of various buildings moved in from around the area (houses, barns, blacksmith sheds, etc.) Interesting exhibits on Cordell Hull and Alvin York.

If you like to see early American history, this is the place. Old time saw mill, old one room school house, Mark Twain's cabin he was raised in.